Peeling sticker case to be reheard en banc

Back in February, a panel of the Court of Appeals ruled that the mere fact that a guy’s car had a peeling inspection sticker wasn’t enough to justify a police officer’s stop. That fact alone didn’t provide the “reasonable suspicion” of criminal activity needed to make the stop, according to the panel, which suppressed evidence and drugs and a gun found in the car.

By the way, the defendant’s lawyer, John B. Mann of Richmond, told us that the actual sticker on the defendant’s car was in a lot better shape than the illustration we used with our story in February (see above).